Salt-Shaker.

THE OFFICE....

The Intercom landline on Noor’s table gave out two long beeps. She clipped the papers on her desk and picked up the call before it could make a third irritating beep.

“ yes.” She spoke with her hands busy with the sheets and the phone sandwiched between her head and her shoulder.

“ could you come in for a minute Noor?” the Auditor spoke on the other end who sat 5 chambers away.

She picked up the stapled sheets and walked to the cabin titled “Mr. Ahuja”

“ Noor! Please don’t mind but can you push an hour post shift to finish these too?” He spoke pointing to another bundled file on his table.

“ but sir…”

“ thank you Noor. Its so sweet of you.” He answered back before she could complete her version.

She felt helpless as she picked up the blue file that felt heavier in her head than in her arms.

She sat in her chamber looking at people leave home happily through her cabin’s glass door. All she could care at the moment was for the work to finish on time so that she could leave early. Her eyes were busy staring at the screen while her mind wandered off in the thoughts of reaching home early.

“May I?” Vihaan knocked on her cabin door to peek in.

“You leaving too? I thought you had an extra shift today” Noor managed to give an eye contact to him while still managing to continue monitoring the screen.

“ Yeah. Was almost done so.. need company?”

“yes please” Noor made a puppy face.

Vihaan pulled an extra chair towards her and sat on the other side of the table.

“ so.. how long would you take?”

“ I am almost done. Just two verifications and one wind up mail to go. Who gives an extra shift on a Friday dude???” Noor spoke with a hint of disgust on her face.

“ its okay.. i'm here for company. Well.. someone seems so excited to leave early.. what plans for weekend?” Vihaan spoke sorting the mess on Noor’s table.

“ nothing so far..”

“ c'mon…waiting for weekend and all?.. have another date?” he smirked as he spoke.

Noor paused her work for a sec to give a sharp side eye to Vihaan.

“ Seriously?? After the last week’s blind date, you had arranged?”

“ hey dint he ask you for a second date?” Vihaan seemed surprised.

“ No he dint” she shot her answer.

“ huh! Dint you text him back?”

“ I don’t know It felt weird.”

“ Maybe you could try.. He's not such a bad guy.” Vihaan threw his suggestion.

“hahaha very funny.” Noor continued.

“okay okay..! up to you ma’am.”

“ chalo! Finish it fast. Ill drop you home on the way.”

Noor was so glad to reach her flat before 12 and in no time, got herself freshened up and tucked in her bed. She scrolled through her WhatsApp to reply the un-reads and right there, was another text from Vihaan.

“ do consider texting him once. Hes a nice guy. “

She left him on seen but tumbled on the thought for a solid 40 minutes in her head. After a whole episode of discussions among her multiple personalities, she picked her mobile to fetch for the intended name.

“ Milith” she typed on to the search bar. There was just a picture of his black goggles that were placed on a brown wooden table as his WhatsApp DP.

“ what a useless DP!” she thought to herself.

She clicked it open and texted her message.

“ hey! you up?”

The reply came in no time.

“ hey Noor! How have you been?”

“ Everything is good. Wau?”

“ well.. pretty much the same..”

She wondered what to type next after such a formal start.

“ wondering what to text?” The message popped up bringing a smile on her face.

“ actually yeah..”

“ no problem, I am pretty good with words.” He wrote back.

“ LOL! So. What are your plans for the weekend?” She managed to directly jump in to the context.

“ wow.. are you.. are you asking me out again?” Milith replied with a wink emoji.

“yeah cuz you dint bring it up anyhow.”

“ Noor..! oh my god!. I dint know… I felt you did not really enjoy the first date. So I dint take a risk to be a creep by texting you again".

“ oh really? I thought YOU weren’t interested. I guessed you were over me.”

“ over you?? Man.. I wish I could be all over you right now.” Milith made a bold move.

“you indeed are good with words.” Noor texted with a tiny blush emoji.

“ Yup! ”

“ so sunday..?” Noor initiated the conversation.

“ Absolutely. “

“any plans?” Noor wrote and waited for the reply.

“ I have got so many plans in my head. Wanna try to peek into my thoughts?” Milith replied.

“ would be glad to..”

“ so wanna know what we could possibly do?”

“ What?” Noor was sensing the conversation getting escalated.

“ well.. Maybe I would pick you up from your place and.. We would go around for a ride, a nice ride with evening breeze… maybe grab a wine bottle, drive back to my place and…”

“and..?” Noor gave a pause.

“ I would bring you over, give you a nice warm welcome.. Make you comfortable on my two seater couch... and… (he paused to listen to her silence on the other end). And….make you some yummy pasta I guess..(Noor giggled). It would be nice to think that You’d be helping me cook and I… I just…. I would slide my arms around your waist as we cook giving you butterflies in your tummy. And.. Iam sure You would blush and secretly want me to do that again.”

“ Im listening..” Noor replied.

“ How about I grab you all of a sudden and run my fingers through your hair while my lips delicately touch your nape… “

“And…?” she texted as soon as there was a pause.

“ then.. well.... Maybe I’d serve my lady the perfect pasta with a glass of wine perfectly complimenting the Netflix show you choose… we… We’d talk all along as we eat and I would pull you close as we finish  the meal.”

“and..” Noor loved the way Milith went on with his words.

“ and then, I would …. hold you tight.. tight enough till our heartbeats aligned,…. look into your eyes until you give me the consent by leaning in…. I would take it as a sign and… i…I would brush the hair on your face while your hands hold on to my nape. I would lean in and kiss you until … until you made the choice to let go.”

“see you Sunday then!” Noor shot her answer hiding her natural blush behind her mobile screen.

****************************************************

THE PLAN...

“ you ready?” Milith’s text popped as she sprayed two puffs of her favorites perfume on to her baggy Tshirt and skinny fit jeans.

“ yess ill be there in a minute.” She typed as she quickly locked her flat and reached downstairs.

“ Hi gorgeous.!” Milith spoke in a calm tone leaning against the car door as she came close for a hug.

“ heloo…! Lets go?” she gave a warm smile.

Milith walked to the other side of the car to open the door for her. After trying to pull the handle for a couple of times, he realized that, the handle was locked from within.

He rambled all over his jeans pockets to spot the car keys. He started to look for the keys on the ground and realized they had fallen near the front tire. He picked it up with an awkward smile to unlock the door for her.

She gave him a soft smile and got into the passenger seat.

“ so where shall we go?” He spoke as he started to drive.

“ Dint your story have it all planned last night?” she looked at him with a hint of sarcasm.

“ well.. we could go with that if you insist. What if I told you I missed a few descriptions about the car ride yesterday?”

“ Why don’t we just stick to yesterday’s part. I am not great with improv.” She spoke with a giggle.

“ Sure.”

“ Jeans on a date? Hmm,.. intresting!” He broke the ice.

“ why? Have you always dated girls only in cute girly clothes?”

“ No! I have always dated girls in artificial personalities.”

“ clever move” Noor’s face could clearly say she was impressed.

“ So where are we heading?” Noor looked at the time on her phone.

“ We are almost close to one of the finest wine marts in the city. I have it all planned. It would take approximately half an hour.”

“ That would be around 7 right?” she calculated the time.

“ yes Correct”

Milith drove to a main road which ended up blocked by a construction site. He looked out of the window for any other available directions.

“ Lemme get down and ask for directions.” He unlocked the door and looked out to find people whom he could talk to.  

“ Oh fuckkkk!!!” He shouted in pain as he accidently clasped his finger in the car door. Noor rushed out to the other side to see his four fingers bleeding bad.

“ We gotta get to a first aid as soon as possible.” Noor made him sit in the passenger seat and began to drive his car. Milith sat in silence until they reached a pharmacy. Noor did a quick first aid to his fingers and dressed his arm in a neat band aid.

“ I am sorry Noor!” He spoke with a low tone.

“ Why?? Its okay. Stuff like these happen Don’t worry.” She comforted him as she continued to drive.

“Where are we going next? Any other wine mart?” Milith spoke.

“ No. lets just get home.  Fruit juice works?? We can still stick by the story you know?”

Milith was glad that she din’t make the situation sad or awkward.

She halted at a Grocery to pick up a bottle of juice and drove to Milith’s . Noor got out of the car to open the door for him.

“ dam! I feel awkward!” Milith spoke as she opened his door.

“Cmon! Everybody deserves this.. “

Milith unlocked his flat and led her in with a nice welcome.

“Pasta???” Noor spoke after a few minutes of settling in on his two seater purple couch.

“ Actually Noor… I don’t have pasta at home. Was supposed to buy them on the way back. I lost my track in the heat of the situation.

“ I see… Rajma chawal chalega?” Noor spoke with a simple tone as that of a normal non fancy girl.

He glanced at her with a smile and helped her find the required things from the kitchen. She tied her hair into a bun, pulled her sleeves up and began to cook the Rajma beans.

“ You wanna put these things in the fridge?” She pulled him close to handover the veggies and other stuff.

He cleared the mess around the kitchen and walked close to her as she cooked. Though many thoughts were running in his head, he stayed composed not to act on them. But with a little gut, he tried grabbing her by the waist to smell her hair. He could sense an aroma of her hair's fruity serum in every breath. He slowly brushed her hair strands behind her ear and planted a soft kiss on her neck. She calmed herself while a hurricane ran in her head with goosebumps all over her back. He could clearly see the situation escalating. She tried holding on to the kitchen counter as he continued to stoke his fingers around her neck and ears. The bottle of water lying on the counter made a huge thud on the floor as her hand accidently slid by the bottle.

“ Iam so sorry.. Iam so sorry!” She picked up the bottle in reflex and placed it back on the counter.

“ Hey relax! Its okay I got this..” Milith picked up a bunch of tissues to clean the water on the floor. He cleared the area with his single arm and stood at a corner just to watch her cook in all her elegance.

“ Ajao..! badiya  punjabi rajma chawal bana hai” she plated the food neatly and carried it to the hall.

They made themselves comfortable on the couch and began to dig into the food.

“ Hey! Thanks again!” Milith spoke before he could taste the meal.

“ No issues. Weren’t you about to make pasta for me? Count it the same.”

“ no. its just that, I picturized it so perfect. But now, its just not there… Its not the perfection I planned on.” Milith tried to apologize.

“ Hey! Its still perfect who said it isn’t ? I genuinely had fun and beyond all that, I just felt everything so real. It is still perfect for me. just like this Rajma chawal.”

“ What about all those tiny imperfections and accidents? Don’t they matter to you?” Milith was still looking for his answers. Noor had eaten a spoonful and gave out a numb expression.

“ ugh!! Salt…” she walked to the kitchen to grab the salt shakers from the cupboard.

“ you listeing ?” Milith spoke again.

“ yes!! The imperfections and the accidents.. well.. I think I have stored them safely wit me. stored them in cute salt shakers like this. And you know what they do?”

She grabbed her plate and sprinkled a little salt to give it a proper stir. “ Taste it” she pointed it towards him.

“ Perfect!!” Milith exclaimed as he tasted the spoon of rice.

“ exactly! These salt shakers can literally bring alive the perfection.” Noor spoke as she continued to eat her meal.

The Rajma chawal had labelled itself as a core memory in the food lane for Milith. He loved the day and the meal and wished the day to not end soon.

“ I think I should leave. Its getting late.” Noor finally made her way to pick her stuff from the center table after spending a beautiful evening with her date.

Milith walked towards her to give her a warm hug and looked into her eyes that were extremely tiered of the long- long day she had. He stood in the embrace until she gave a smile and glided her arms on to his neck. He held her face and moved closer to look into her eyes at greater depths. As he moved his face towards her, an entire flash of day had struck his thoughts and he just sensed a strong urge to just express all his feelings with a kiss of gratitude.  He moved closer and kissed her on the cheek un-till, he could hear his heart wonder why it felt so.. so... good. 

“ Bye Noor!” He finally let her out of the tight warm hug. He could still smell her perfume on his T shirt that had been in her territory all this while.

 ***************************************************************************

THE MONDAY...

The phone made the irritating beep adding on to the Monday sickness It rang again until Noor picked it up.

“Maam! Theres a parcel for you.” the security spoke on the other end.

“ Can you please bring it upstrairs? I am a little busy.”

“ Sure maam.”

A box was bought to her chamber by the lean security guard.

Noor unboxed it in no time to find a pair of salt shakers packed in a gift wrap with a tiny note attached to it.

“ I think my Rajma needs a little more salt.

In for another story ???”

Noor clicked a picture of the salt shakers, and labelled it with a ‘yes!!’ and sent to Milith with a wide smile emoji.